Method of assembling an insulated shipper container



y 1952 w.1 MORRISON 3,044,161

METHOD OF ASSEMBLING AN INSULATED SHIPPER CONTAINER Filed Aug. 15, 1960United States Patent Q METHOD OF ASSEMBLING AN INSULATED SHIPPERCONTAINER Willard L. Morrison, Lake Forest, 111., assignor toLiquefreeze Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled Aug. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 49,731 3 Claims. (Cl. 29-445) My inventionrelates to improvements in insulated shipper containers and method ofmaking them. The invention is well adapted for small size shippercontainers big enough to hold a ton or more of frozen food but is alsoapplicable to automotive or other insulated vehicle bodies or freightcars.

One object of the invention is to provide a rectangular, preferablycubical shipper container which will be to all intents and purposes gasand liquid tight to the end that a minimum of heat inflow be possible.

Another object is to provide a shipper container and method of making itwhich lends itself to shipment of frozen food for long distances undercircumstances suchthat no cooling is possible between beginning and endof shipment.

Other objects will appear from time to time throughout the specificationand claims.

The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in theaccompanying drawing, wherein FIGURE 1 is a perspective of a shippercontainer in process of assembly, together with the jig used inassembling it;

FIGURE 2 is a section along the line 22 of FIG- URE 1.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specificationand drawings.

The shipper container as illustrated is cubical. It has five sides .1 ofeach preferably of a single slab, self-supporting, laminated, sandwichpanel, generally gas impervious insulating material such as dyalitethough other materials may be used. Under some circumstances each sidemight be made of a plurality of panels face to face though a singlepanel is often entirely satisfactory. Under other circumstances, perhapsa. plurality of panels edge to edge might be used but here also I preferto use a single panel for each side. These panels are of a materialwhich does not substantially suffer any loss of strength in the presenceof intense cold. The panel may warp a little if one side is colder thanthe other but it will return to original shape when the differentialtemperature is no longer present. 7

The sixth side 2 is centrally apertured to receive any suitableinsulated closure, not here illustrated as the details form no part ofthe present invention.

The abutting panels interlock as indicated in FIG- URE 2, there being acompressible insulating packing 3 between their opposed interlockingedges though under some circumstances the flexibility of the innerinsulation of the panels is resilient enough to insure substantial gastight closure. Preferably, there is contained within the cubicalcontainer loosely socketed, a box of aluminum foil 4 or other materialwhich does not suffer in the presence of excessive cold. Such a box willcontain foodstuifs which are placed in the aluminum container and thensaturated with a cold boiling liquid such as liquid nitrogen. Thepurpose of the aluminum box is to insure against leakage of the liquidnitrogen through the insulation before it evaporates.

The box is reinforced by twelve angle bars 5, each angle bar receivingone corner of the box. Each angle bar being somewhat less in length thanthe unstressed dimensions of the dyalite panels. Compressible packing 6which might be rubber or other compressible material is interposedbetween each angle and the corner of the panel or panels associated withit. These angles where they approach one another as indicated at 7 arediagonally cut away and they are out of contact with one another. Whenthe container is to be assembled, these various elements aboveenumerated are in place within a jig 8. The jig 8 is a rectangular framemember having at each corner a hydraulic ram or other pressure means 9Which terminates in a pressure foot 10 adapted to press against gusset11,

there being one gusset for each corner of the shipper con-- tainer. Whenpressure is applied to these hydraulic rams the insulating panels arecompressed so as to insure a snug contact between the outside corners oredges of each panel with its neighbor, which snug contact is transmittedthrough the compressible packing element 6. This pressure must besuificient to insure that even when the inner face of the panel shrinksas a result of the cold of the contents, there still remains adequatecompression so that the panels are still pre-stressed. When sufiicientpressure has been applied, the gussets are riveted or bolted as at 12 tothe angles to hold the panels under compression.

' When food is to be frozen in the shipper container, the containerhaving been removed from the jig for use, the container or the aluminumliner if that is used, may be filled with food and liquid nitrogen willbe poured in to freeze the food to temperatures far below zero degreesF. for shipping. This includes cooling the inner walls or surfaces ofthe slabs or panels. As soon as they are cooler than the outer walls,the panels tend to warp, the shorter outer walls tending to warpinwardly and cause the panel to take a concavo convex contour with theconvex out ward. This difference, however, is comparatively small and iscompensated for by the packing 3 and 6 which being under pressure yieldssufficiently to maintain a tight joint and expand sufficiently whenpressure is relieved by the warping of the panels to still maintain thattight joint.

'By this arrangement, I am able to provide a cheap, inexpensive anddurable shipper container which remains tight under all normalcircumstances of use. This is of the utmost importance because whilewhen refrigeration is added enroute you can compensate for loss by usingsome refrigeration, when the shipper container is used withoutrefrigeration between the time it is filled and the time it reachesdestination, heat inflow may be fatal so it is of the ultmost importanceto maintain a really tight box, so tight that foodstuffs can be frozento temperatures far below zero degrees F. and as treated by this method,such foodstuffs can be shipped clear across the country and arrive atdestination at temperatures still below zero degrees R, somethingheretofore never known to be possible.

Each slab is preferably made of foamed plastic, of which there are manywell known on the market, indicated at 20 and each slab is sheathed orarmored by plywood as indicated at 21. A plywood partition as at 22 isinterposed between the interlocking edges of the slabs.

I claim:

1. The process of building an insulated shipper container which consistsin assembling a plurality of insulating panels in edge to edge contactto define a rectangular box having top, bottom and side walls, placingan angle bar along the abutting edges of each pair of panels to encloseeach edge and engage both abutting panels, the length of the bar beingslightly less than the uncompressed length of the abutting edge, placingat each of the eight corners of the box overlying each of the threeadjacent angle bar ends, a three sided corner cover member, applyingequal pressure simultaneously to the ends of the angle bars at eachcorner only, the pressure being applied to said corner cover members thelines of pressure intersecting generally at the center of the box, thepressure being sufiicient to compress the panels and bring the ends ofthe angle bars into immediate juxtaposition, then securing the adjacentends of each of the three angle bars together at each corner -by meansof the corner cover to thereby form the angle bars and corner covermembers into a unitary frame structure about said compressed insulatedpanels to thereby form a unitary angle bar frame structure about saidcompressed insulating panels and then relieving the pressure form each'of the corner cover members.

2. The process of building an insulated shipper con tainer whichconsists in assembling a plurality of relatively thick, compressibleinsulating panels in edge to edge interlocking contact to define arectangular box having top, bottom and side walls, placing along theabutting edges of each pair of panels an angle bar wherein each arm ofthe angle is parallel to and engages throughout its entire length anadjacent panel face, the length of the bars being slightly less than theuncompressed length of the abutting panel edge placing at each of theeight corners of the box overlying each of the three adjacent angle barends, a three sided corner cover member, applying equal pressuresimultaneously to the three adjacent ends of each three angle bars atthe corner cover of the box only the pressure being applied to saidcorner cover members, the lines of pressure applied to the eight cornersof the box intersecting generally at the center thereof and when the boxpanels have been compressed, securing the adjacent ends of each of thethree angle bars together at each corner by means of the corner covermember to thereby form the angle bars and corner cover members into aunitary frame structure about said compressed insulated panels, tothereby form a unitary angle bar frame an angle bar whose length issomewhat less than the length of the edges, each angle bar engagingflatwise two of the panels, only, placing at each of the eight cornersof the box, overlying each of the three adjacent angle bar ends, a threesided corner cover member, applying inward equal pressure simultaneouslyto each corner cover member along lines of pressure intersectinggenerally at the center of the box to compress the panels and bring theends of each group of three angle bars into juxtaposition, thenpermanently attaching each corner member to its three associated anglebars to thereby form the angle bars and corner cover members into aunitary frame structure about said compressed insulated panels, andrelieving the pressure from each of the corner cover members and freeingthe box for use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,693,027 Meyer Nov. 2, 1954 2,746,824 Bond May 22, 1956 2,892,564Morrison June 30, 1956

